Known packer implements have a frame with a hitch so that they can be towed behind a tractor or other implement. The frame is supported by wheels and includes a tool bar to which packer tools are connected. The problem with present packer implements is that most of the weight of the implement rests on the wheels with a lesser amount of weight resting on individual packer tools so that the wheels pack loose soil much more substantially than the packer tools. Hence, when a crop is planted, discontinuities in growth are apparent due to the soil packing differences.
Non-packer implements are known wherein hydraulic cylinders depress or retract the transport wheels so that more or less weight is placed on the implement soil working tool. U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,706 is exemplary of this concept.
Grain drills have tools for opening a furrow for receiving seed and are known to have press wheels therebehind for compacting the soil covering the seed. The press wheels may have an individual mechanism for adjusting the compacting force applied by the press wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,140 is exemplary of this concept.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,508 discloses a potato planter which has outer sections and spring mechanism between the central and outer sections for transferring weight therebetween.
None of the known art, however, addresses the problem of relieving weight from the wheels to achieve preparation of a uniformly packed seed bed and, consequently, of a packer implement which is capable of achieving that result.